Photoreduction of CO2 using copper-decorated TiO2 nanorod films with localized surface plasmon behavior

This Letter shows the activity of a novel metal/semiconductor photocatalyst for reducing CO2 to CH4 in the presence of H2O under UV-light irradiation. This composite is prepared on a transparent conductive substrate by an hydrothermal method for depositing TiO2 nanorod films, and then loaded with Cu nanoparticles (NPs) by an electrochemical method. The plasmonic properties of Cu NPs greatly enhance the resulting photoactivity with respect to that of pure TiO2 nanorod films. The final CH4 production rate observed (∼2.91 ppm/gcatal. h) represents an improvement compared to specific values reported by other authors using conventional titania-based catalysts.